Matt Corby is the latest artist to perform for triple j’s Like A Version segment, delivering a lowkey acoustic spin on TLC’s 1999 hit ‘No Scrubs’.
In a post-performance interview, Corby said of his decision to cover ‘No Scrubs’: “I actually really love this song and that’s my only reason. For real, yeah. No, I think it’s a ‘90s classic. I would’ve been nine years old; I do remember, I would go into Sanity – if anyone remembers that era – and you could go and play the songs, like there would be four CDs and you could put headphones on and be like, ‘I’m going to pick this CD.’
“I’m pretty sure me and my sister bought [‘No Scrubs’] as a single. You can imagine what a nine-year-old in year four would be doing – fuckin’ nothing, other than listening to ‘No Scrubs’. It was one of the first songs where I remembered the lyrics; like, it was such an iconic song, lyrically. And I think it was also kind of funny – it’s actually almost like an OG meme song…”
As for his endeavour to make the tune sound unique, Corby explained: “I wanted to find an interesting way to move the chords around. Because the OG is like… I couldn’t sing it in that key because it’s too high. This is a real deep cut, but the very first song I wrote with Budjerah, I gave him these chords, and I was like, ‘‘No Scrubs’ would sit on that, no worries.’
“I just basically superimposed ‘No Scrubs’ onto the chords to ‘Missing You’ from Budjerah.”
Have a look at Corby’s cover of ‘No Scrubs’, as well as the full interview, below:
As is typical for Like A Version, Corby also performed one of his own songs, opting to strum through his ‘Everything’s Fine’ single ‘Reelin’’. Have a look at that below:
‘Everything’s Fine’ – Corby’s third studio album – arrived back in March via Island. Alongside ‘Reelin’’, it was supported by singles like ‘Problems’ and ‘Big Smoke’.
NME spotlit the album in a roundup of the best Australian releases from March, writing: “For his slick and ethereal third album, Matt Corby learned to embrace both the good and bad in his life, ‘but particularly the bad’.
“There’s no edge of sarcasm to the title, he assures, with the album as a whole being about ‘managing your actual reality’ – a topic close to Corby, whose home was destroyed by floodwaters on the day he planned to start writing ‘Everything’s Fine’. The album’s sound reflects this forced optimism, cool and cruisy with a palette of shimmering, groove-laden melodies and soul-gripping vocals.”